BOULDER, CO (BRAIN)—While Boulder, Colorado has one of America’s best cycling environments, the city government is not content to rest there. The Boulder Bike Summit, held September 7, gathered a diverse group of over 100 citizens and experts to answer the question: “How could bicycling be even better in 20 years if we start now?”
The Boulder Bike Summit was the brainchild of City Council member Shaun McGrath, and was organized by Martha Roskowski and her GoBoulder! team, with sponsorship from BikesBelong. Roskowski led the America Bikes! Campaign in 2003-2004, which resulted in an increase in funding for bike facilities in the Federal Transportation bill.
Randy Neufeld of the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation was a key presence. He provided guidance and cautionary tales based on his two decades of efforts to make Chicago one of the best large cycling cities in North America.
Boulder is currently a Gold-rated city in the League of American Bicyclist’s Bicycle Friendly Communities program. Some of the proposed solutions to moving Boulder toward Platinum status included car-free streets, bike service stations, education- and enforcement-based initiatives and better integration of bike commuting with other forms of transit.
The Summit began with an industry breakfast, where Leslie Bohm, Felix Magowan, Ray Keener and 20 others discussed how to promote the cycling industry presence in Boulder and become more influential in the city’s decision-making process.
